Rake.



J. CARROLL.

BAKE. APPLIOATION FILED N0v.3, 191s.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

m N m.

Lames JAMES CARROLL, 0F PITTSFIELD, ILLINOIS.

RARE. l

Haabaa.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jian. 5, 19115.

Application filed November 3, 1813. Serial No. 798,983.

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that I, JAMES CARROLL, citizenoi the United States, residing at Pittsield, in the county of Pike andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRakes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in hand rakes, the primary objectof my invention being the provision of a hand rake which will beself-cleaning.

A further object of my invention is to so construct the rake that wastematter may be freed and removed from the rake teeth while employing therake in the usual manner, this construction being such as to avoid thenecessity of employing individual spring lingers operating between theteeth to clean the same, sliding tooth cleaner members or other cleaningstructures of similar nature which considerably increases the cost ofrake manufacture and also th weight of the rake.

A still further object of my invention is to mount the rake head uponits handle in such a manner that it will operate in the usual mannerwhen drawn toward the person employing the rake, while when pushed alongthe ground away from the operator, the rake head will tilt to bring itsteeth parallel with the ground and thus' permit wiping olf or removal ofall foreign matter therefrom.

A. still further object of my invention is the provision of means fornormally holding the rake head with its teeth perpendicular to the planeof the rake handle and tooth bar of the rake.

A. still further object of my invention is the provision of aself-cleaning rake in which the rake head may be swung to bring itsteeth into a plane parallel with the rake handle to permit convenientpacking or storing of the rake, the head, when in this position, beingklocked against swinging movement. v lith these and other objects inview, my. invention will be more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, and then specifically pointed out in the claimswhich are attached to and form a part of this application. j

In the drawings: Figure 1 isa perspective view of my improved rake, aportion of the handle being broken away to permit, the showing of therake 0 0.IlStructionP upon a larger scale than would otherwise beypossible; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rake,

showing the relative inclination occupied by the teeth with respect tothe handle dur- 1ng cleaning of the rake; Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsectional view, showing the normal position of the teeth; Fig. 4 is avdetail view of the rake with the rake head swung A to bring the teethin parallel relation to the rake handle. Fig. 5 is-'a sectional view onan enlarged scale, showing the rake head in normal position in fulllines and in its other position in dot and dash lines.

fQorrespondingand like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the samereference characters. v rIhe preferred embodiment of my inventionincludes a rake handle 10, a rake head indicated as a whole by thenumeral 11 and a bow or yoke 12 connecting the handle and head. 'Therake head includes a tooth bar 13, which may be of any desired type, and

to which are secured in any suitable manner, a plurality of spaced raketeeth 14. Thls tooth bar 13 is preferably circular in cross section andif otherwise shaped is pro-- vided adjacent its-ends with circularbearing portions.

The bow or yoke connecting the handle and rake head may be secured tothe handle in any suitable manner and includes a. pair of resilient arms15 and 16 which diverge or are bowed from each other from the end of thehandle, the arms adjacent their terminals being inbent to extendparallel with the handle as shown at 17. The terminals of the arms arethen bent to provide circular loops or sleeves 18 to embrace the toothbar 13 of the rake head, the tooth bar thereby being free for turningmovement in the sleeves to bring its teeth into various angularpositions with respect to the plane of the rake handle and yoke. rl`hearms 15 and 16 are formed of resilient material in order that theirterminals may be free to move toward and away from each other to aslight extent for a reason which will be hereinafter explained.

It will of course be clear that in order to render the above describedrake operative, it is necessary to provide means for limiting theturning of the tooth bar in the yoke sleeves. For this reason, each ofthe sleeves is Provided at its inner edge witha pair of suitablyspaced,inwardlyy directed extensions or lugs 19 and 20. The tooth bar 13 of therake head is provided with pins 21 which normally bear against the inneredges of the sleeves 18 between the lugs 19 and Y 1 teeth 14 will extendin a plane at right angles to that of the handle and yoke. On the otherhand, the lugs 20 are so disposed that when the pins bear against themand the rake is held in the usual manner, with the handle at aninclination to the ground, the rake teeth will extend in substantiallyparallel relation to the ground. or in sucha manner that the rake headwill rest flatlyupon the ground.

Because of the resiliency of the arms 15 and 16, the said arms may beswung away from each other to free the sleeves 18 from the pins 21 afterwhich the rake head may be further turned to bring the teeth 14 into aplane parallel with the handle. By then releasing the yoke arms, thesleeves will be brought back into engagement with the stop pins 21, Thelugs 2O are of such extent that in this position the stop pins willengage against the opposite sides of the lugs from those against whichthey engage when the rake head is swung into parallel relation to theground.

A helical spring 22 of suitable strength is secured by one end to thelower end ofthe handle 10 and extends in substantial alinement with thehandle, being secured by its opposite end to what is the upper portionof the tooth bar 13 when the teeth carried by said bar are in operativeposition. It will therefore be seen that this spring will normally holdthe rake head with the pins 21 in engagement with the lugs 19 andtherefore with itsrake teeth at right angles to the plane -of the rakehandle and yoke. However, when the rake head is swung to bring its teethinto a plane parallel to the 'plane of the rake handle and yoke, the

spring will then act to hold the pins against the outer faces of thelugs 20 and prevent any further swinging of the rake head which mightcause damage to the teeth by engagement with the yoke. In this latterposition, therefore, the rake head will be held' against swinging`movement in one direction by the spring and in the reverse direction bythe lugs 20.

The rake is employed in the same manner as the ordinary hand rake, beingmoved toward and away from the operator, the rake head always resting byits teeth upon the ground during movement toward the voperator to drawtoward him the loose leaves, grass or other matter being-raked up.

4Upon movement of the rake away from the operator, the rake head iscustomarily raised above the ground in order to avoid pushing any of thewaste matter to be gathered in at the next movement of the rake, awayfrom the operator. If however, the teeth become elo 0fed with the wastematter bein" can t raked up, the rake head may he held in engagementwith the ground during the earlier part of the movement of the rake awayfrom the operator. This engagement of the rake head with the ground willcause the rake head to turn against the action of the spring 22 untilstopped from further movement by the engagement of the pins 21 againstthe lugs 20. In this position, the rake head will bear flatly upon theground and all waste matter caught upon the teeth ofthe rake will bewiped oli'. As soon as the rake head is again raised from the ground,the spring will immediately return it to normal position.

If deemed desirable, the spring Q2 may be omitted without materiallyall'ecting the operation of the rake as the forward throw of the rakehead, during the advance movement of the rake, will naturally tend toswing the rake head to bring its teeth at right angles to the plane ofthe rake handle and yoke, that is. to normal position. The employment ofthe spring is, however, advised as it renders the action of the rakemore positive and causes the teeth to he constantly held flatly againstthe ground upon l movement of the rake head away from the operatorirrespective of any slight variations in the angle at which the rakehandle may be held with respect to the ground. thus insuring moreeffectual cleaning of the teeth.

The engagement of the pins 21 against the inner faces of the sleeves 18,at all times holds the rake head against longitudinal movement throughsaid sleeves. It will of course be clear, however, that the pins may bepositioned to engage against the outer edges of the sleeves and that insuch a case the lugs 19 and 2O will be extended outwardly from suchedges instead of in the manner shown in the drawing.

I do not wish in any way to limit myself to the specific details ofconstruction, illustrated in the drawing and described in thespecification, as various changes, within the scope of the appendedclaims` may be made at any time without in the slightest degreedeparting from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what vis claimed as new is:

1. A rake including a handle, resilient diverging arms extendingfrom oneend of the handle, the free ends of said arms being bent to formsleeves. laterally directed spaced lugs extending from the inner edgesof the sleeves, a tooth bar mounted for turnniaasa ing movement in thesleeves, teeth carried by the bar, and stop pins carried by the bar inposition to engage the lugs.

2. A rake including a handle, resilient dioi lugs.

3. A rake including a handle, resilient arms extending from one end ofthe handle and terminating in sleeves each having spaced stop lugs, arake head including a tooth carrying bar journaled iny said sleeves,

' a helical spring connecting the upper portion of the bar with theadjacent end of thev handle, and stop pins carried by the bar andengaging the sleeves between the lugs in position to engage the lugs andlimit the swinging movement of the rake head, one lug of each sleevebeing proportioned tol be engagedat one side by the stop pins when theteeth of the rake head extend at an acute angleto the aXis of the handleand at the opposite side when the teeth extend parallel with the axis ofthe handle.

4. A rake including a handle, a rake head swingingly mounted at one endot" the handle, means `for normally holdin the rake head with its teethin a plane at right an les to the handle, said means permitting limitedswinging movement of the rake head and lill said means being furtherarranged to lock the rake head with its teeth in a plane paralle] to thehandle.

5. A rake includin a handle, a tooth supporting bar pivota ly supportedat one end of the handle, means for locking the supporting bar with itsteeth in a plane parallel to the handle, and means operable upon releaseof the locking means for automatically turning the supporting bar tobring its teeth into a plane at right angles to the handle.

6. A rake including a handle, a tooth supporting bar pivotally supportedat one end of the handle, means for locking the supportinur bar with itsteeth in a plane parallel to the zhandle, and means operable uponrelease of the locking means for automatically turning the supportingbar to bring its teeth yinto a plane at right angles to the handle,

said means including a spring connecting the handle and tooth bar.

7. A rake including a handle, a tooth supporting bar pivotally supportedat one end of the handle, means for locking the supporting bar with itsteeth in a plane parallel to the handle, and means operable upon releaseof the locking means for automatically turning the supporting bar tobring its teeth into a plane at right angles to the handle, said meansincludino' a spring connecting the handle and toothiar, and stops forlimiting the turning movement of the tooth bar. In testimony whereof llaliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES CARROLL. [Ls] Witnesses:

CHAS. M. HEISHEIMER, FRED W. GRAVES.

